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A Global Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Programme
Patrick L. M’mayi
UNEP Programme Officer
Division of Early Warning and
Assessment
United Nations Environment Programme
Nairobi, Kenya
The UNEP GEMS/WaterThe UNEP GEMS/Water
3rd GEOSS African Water Cycle Coordination Initiative (AfWCCI)Workshop
Venue: L’Hotel Art Suites, El Jadida, Morocco.4-5 February, 2013
This presentation
� Brief history – what is GEMS/Water?, the global network, its management
� Network building and strengthening at national, global and watershed levels to improve water quality - objectives and outcomes
GEMS/Water brief history and partnerships…
� A comprehensive global water quality monitoring system and network.
� Provides evidence-based information on the state and trends of global inland water quality.
� In place since 1978… some 35 years, supported by Environment Canada.
� Initially implemented as a collaborative effort of UN agencies (UNEP, WHO, UNESCO, WMO, the IAEA) and other relevant water organizations globally with member countries
Participants in GEMS/Water
AmericasAfricaAsiaEuropeOceania
Africa
368
312,932
1977-2010
Americas
2446
1,825,340
1965-2012
Asia
596
907,002
1969-2012
Europe
344
1,047,452
1974-2011
Oceania
95
447,006
1979-2011
Region
# of Stations
# of Values
Date Range
Totals
3869
4,539,732
1965-2012
The growth of GEMStat
No. of Stations 1987- Sept 2012 No. of Data points 19 87- Sept 2012
0
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
1987
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
20120
1000
2000
3000
4000
1… 1… 2… 2… 2… 2… 2… 2… 2… 2… 2… 2… 2… 2… 2…
River
Lake
GroundwaterReservoir
Wetlands
GEMStat Holdings: >3850 stations; >4.5 million data; Date Range 1965-2012
The global water quality network
Region Physical/Chemical
Nutrients MajorIons
Metals OrganicMatter
Organic Contaminants
Micro-biology
Hydrological & Sampling Variables
Date Range
Africa 77945 83982 116310 11531 7708 2282 8165 313 1977-2010
Americas 232331 231994 262138 313717 43031 603106 27728 138 35 1965-2012
Asia 270996 159558 167623 104651 59110 10567 49921 83609 196 9-2012
Europe 271095 158652 147287 217559 78511 49024 41299 78075 1 974-2011
Oceania 267345 111839 11160 3199 14356 1438 14462 22619 1979 -2011
Total 1119712 746025 704518 650657 202716 666417 141575 198 451 1965-2012
The GEMS/Water's hydrological counterpart
The Global Runoff Data Centre in Koblenz, Germany
Under the auspices of the WMO and hosted by the German Government
GEMS/Water today
� Several UNEP’s Governing Council decisions called for furthering the development and the strengthening of GEMS/Water (Decision 23/2, GC 23rd Regular Session, February 2005; Decision 24/16, GC 24th Regular Sessions, February 2007)
� GC Decision 26/14 (UNEP GC 26th Regular Session, February 2011)
The mandate
“Encourages Governments and other organisations to participate actively in the GEMS/Water Programme by contributing water quality data and information, and invites Governments and others (…) in a position to do so to provide financial and in-kind support to the GEMS/Water Programme, capacity building and transfer of technology efforts in developing countries.”
UNEP and water quality…
Global, regional and national assessmentsData, monitoring & reportingWater quality standards and guidelines for freshwater ecosystemsEcologically-based solutions
Build ecosystem resilience and improve water quality by providing tools and building capacity for:
The UNEP Operational Water Strategy 2014-17: Addressing vulnerable connections in the
water cycle
GEMS/water activities and services
1) Global Water Quality Database and Information
2) Data Quality
3) Water Quality Assessments
4) Capacity Building and International Network
• Develop QA/QC tools and resources for developing countries (e.g. manuals, training courses)
• Deliver services that enhance data quality and reliability (e.g. Performance Evaluation studies, on-site lab assessments)
• Contribute to UN water publications (e.g. WWDR, GEO)
• Contribute to policy development for issues affected by water quality (e.g. climate change and human health)
• Increase participation of developing countries in water quality monitoring, assessment, research and reporting
• Develop training courses and promote partnerships to deliver via regional centres of excellence
• Enhance accessibility to credible data
• Promote interoperability with other environmental information systems
Challenges in developing countries
� Inadequate water quality data, access and dissemination, regular monitoring
� Capacity building – technical/institutional to address water challenges under global climate change; trans-boundary issues…
� Financial input for data gathering, monitoring, assessment
� Need for effective networks
� Relevance of WQ in policy making
GEMS/water activities, projects and coverage
•The global water quality assessment (2013-17),
•Strengthening National Focal Points, CFP andregional organization networks (2012-13),
•Support to basin wide ecosystems projects e.g.Water quality and ecosystem monitoring in the LakeTanganyika basin(2013 - ?).
Assessment of World Water Quality to Meet the Global Water Quality Challenge
A global water quality assessment –policymakers, stakeholders, and scientists better understandthe extent and type of water quality problems around theworld.Partners: Helmholtz Center for Environment Research(UFZ), University of Kassel, UNEP, UN agencies, Stakeholderand Scientists.Objectives:
�provide information about policy options for protectingor restoring water quality;�A major awareness-raising exercise;�provide capacity building in coping with the waterquality challenge.
Two stages.Stage 1 (2013-14): a preliminary assessment of the currentsituation using existing data.• An evaluation of the current status of water quality in rivers andlakes.•An assessment of freshwater fisheries and to link food security.•An identification of hot spot areas of water pollution.•A preliminary estimate of the causes of water pollution at differentlocations•A preliminary campaign to boost the amount of data available onwater quality and to identify priority data needs.
Stage 2 (3years): will assess - current situation morecomprehensively, examine trends of water quality, andevaluate a range of policy options to deal with the waterquality challenge.
An overview of the WQ Assessment
OutputsBaseline status of global water quality – generate maps anddatabase: of main rivers and lakes in Africa, Latin America, Asiadepicting various indicators of hot spot regions:
Fisheries table and maps – of countries and large river basinReport on value of freshwater fisheries to food security and economy.
Hot spots mapsMaps of hot spot areas of rivers and lakes subject to a high level of waterpollution
Causes of water pollution: Maps and report on immediate causes ofwater pollution in different rivers and lakes
Digital data campaigns: to expanded digitized global data base•Report on use of remote sensing data for global water quality assessment.
National Focal Point (NFP ) network strengthening – workshops
� April 2012 NFP workshop for Eastern and Southern Africa countries;
� November 2012 NFP workshop for Asia and the Pacific
� March 12-14-2013 NFP workshop for Central North Africa in preparation...
� Workshops involve regional water organizations
� To identify prevailing challenges in WQ data acquisition and sharing, monitoring, assessment and reporting;
� To raise awareness -importance of WQ in freshwater ecosystems to support appropriate decision making;
� To enhance participation of countries and regional institutions in the monitoring of freshwater in river and lake basins.
� To determine the level of technical support, expertise and advice in WQ analysis to laboratories required in the countries and the river and lake basins;
� To reinforce collaboration between and regional water quality monitoring activities and programmes with the GEMS/Water and other relevant networks and programmes of the United Nations.
NFP network strengthening – Objectives
Regional workshops – outcomes
� Identification of priority challenges to acquiring and sharing water quality data, and options to overcome them.
� Identification of specific capacity building needs to improve water quality monitoring.
� Awareness of what the GEMS/Water network and database (GEMStat) is and a better understanding of its benefits and requirements.
Regional workshops – outcomes
� Renewed commitment from (participating) country water institutions to network,
� Increased communication and sharing of information and experiences amongst members of the network and capacity building,
� Agreement on next steps, viable actions, responsibilities and timelines.
Lake Tanganyika meeting
� The meeting was held 29-31 January 2013- Bujumbura –Burundi
The UNEP and the Lake Tanganyika Authority (LTA) Secretariat cooperation with respect to the Project / Programme entitled “Institutional arrangements for shared natural resources and trans-boundary environmental issues (TIMS).”
Three objectives:•To strengthen trans-boundary institutional mechanisms for the management of the shared water resources of the Lake Tanganyika;•To enhance capacities within the Lake Tanganyika riparian countries and the LTA Secretariat for water quality monitoring, pollution reduction and control; and•To deliberate on ways of improving the health and diversity of the Lake Tanganyika Basin Ecosystem and services.
Lake Tanganyika meeting - Objectives
LT Conclusions from General Discussions
•agreed that water quality monitoring is the priority
component of the regional strategy
•UNEP commitment to support the member states
through Lake Tanganyika Authority to develop a multi-
stakeholder project proposal that will seek further
funding from potential donors
•Need for UNEP to facilitate the development and
implementation of the monitoring water quality
component with NIGLAS/CHINA playing a
complimentary role to the work of UNEP through
capacity building of the stakeholders on water quality.
An improved concept note that can be used to develop a full project on water quality monitoring (31/1/2013) focusing on:•Identification of priorities needs for countries on monitoring•Activities for standardization of methodologies for data collection •Priority equipment for monitoring and analysis•Mechanisms for data sharing and interpretation among countries•Priorities for capacity building and institutional strengthening activities•Elements for sustainability of monitoring, analysis and financing •Modalities of coordination and roles of LTA, UNEP, partners, member states, focal points
Lake Tanganyika meeting - Outcome
The UNEP GEMS/Water ProgrammeThe UNEP GEMS/Water Programme
Thank you
www.unep.org/gemswater/www.gemstat.org